Moving Upstream - Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit

2. Healthy Living
Health Goals
What is it?
Healthy living benefits everyone. The economic productivity of a community
is directly tied to the health of the community. The body requires healthy food,
regular physical activity, sleep, rest and relaxation to function well at home, school
and work. Everyone faces challenges and stresses in life and positive mental
health provides a basis for coping well and dealing with adversity. Positive mental
health also supports healthy relationships and being able to contribute to the
community. Healthy teeth and gums allow food to be chewed and processed to
get nutrients from it, and a healthy smile contributes to positive self-esteem and
success in the world.
Healthy living also reduces the risk of injuries, infections and health problems.
While this is essential for all ages, it is critical for adults over age 50 when the risk
of chronic diseases increases dramatically. Being active on a regular basis and
eating well delays the aging process which contributes to chronic diseases like
arthritis, heart disease, stroke and osteoporosis, and reduces falls and the risk of
hip fracture, a leading reason why seniors have to enter a long-term care home.
Even if individuals have a chronic disease, healthy living will slow the disease
progression and improve quality of life. This will mean less use of expensive
hospital services.
An important part of healthy living is making healthy choices. Residents are faced
with many choices throughout their lives, for example, to smoke or not, when
to engage in sexual activity, to drink alcohol or not, to use drugs or not, to take
risks or not. Unhealthy choices can contribute to health problems e.g. smoking
contributes to lung cancer, intravenous drug use contributes to HIV and hepatitis
C, while speeding and impaired driving contributes to motor vehicle crashes
resulting in disability and death.
Data from the 2011 Canadian Community Health Survey suggest many residents
do have healthy behaviours but more needs to be done so all benefit from healthy
living (13a).
38 % adults report eating more than 5 servings of fruits
and vegetables daily
47 % adults have a healthy weight
32 % adults are active on a regular basis
82 % adults are not heavy drinkers of alcohol
75 % adults are non-smokers
81 % of students in grades 7 to 12 have not smoked in the previous year
(from the 2009 Ontario Drug Use Survey ) (13a)
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Moving Upstream: 2013-2018 Strategic Plan
Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit